Improvement in bottle-corks



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WILLIAM HARRISON NEWTON, OE NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELE AND SAMUEL W. FRANCIS, OF 'SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent No. 112,070, dated February 21, 1871.

IMPRovEMEN-r IN BOTTLE-cenas.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the lame.

To rwhom lit may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM HARRISON NEWTON, of Newport, in the county of Newport and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oorks for Stopping Bottles and other vessels, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates -to corks employed for stopping bottles or vessels of any kind, and its object is to prevent the breakage of such corks, an accident which often takes place when an attempt is made to draw them.

This is especially noticeable in bottles containing ule, porter, ciaret, or other beverages or liquids, and is frequently the occasion ofmnch annoyance and trouble, one part of the cork remaining in the neck of the bottle while thel other is broken away from it and pulled out.

The breaking of the cork takes place when a corkscrew is used, or when an attempt is made to extract the cork by hand or otherwise, and is due sometimes .to the fact that the cork-screw is only partially inserted in the cork, and at other, times to the imperfect-iemand weakness ofthe cork itself, which has so little strength and coherence that the part taken hold of b'y the hand, or cork-screw, or other appliance for thepurpose of drawing it, -will be torn from that part which is wedged or compressed wit-hin the neck of the bottle or vessel.

To remedy this diculty I bind the body of the' cork, by means of a wire or cord passing through and through or around the'same, in such manner as to prevent any portion of the cork from being drawn separately from the other portion, whereby, even if the cork-screw be inserted only partially through the cork,

the whole cork will be drawn or pulled out, and all liability to breakage will be prevented. In other words, I produce acork adapted to be drawn by the hand, a cork-screw, or other mechanic-al appliances, bound or sewn with wire or cord in` such manner that the body ofthe cork cannot be broken or separated in the act of pulling or extracting it from the bott-le.

In the accompanying drawing I have illustratedthe.

manner in which my invention is or may be carried into eieot. In Figure l the wire or other binding-cord, a, 1s

passed through the body of and around the cork b, so as to appear on both the ends and the sides of the cork. In Figure 2 the wire'or cord passes through from top to bottom, binding together the two ends ofthe cork.

In Figur-e3 the binding-wire passes laterally through, but does not quite extend to either' the top or bottom of the cork.

In Figure 4 the wire or cord passes laterally through the cork, and then, .after being carried down a short distance upon the outside of the cork, its ends pass diagonally down through the cork and are united under the bottom or lower end of the same'.

These examples are suicient toillustrate the nature of my invention; hut it is manifest that the manner oi' bindingr or sewing the cork maybe greatly varied, and

that the binding-cord or wire may follow any suitable path through or around the body of the'cork.

The binding-cord may be of any suitable material; but I prefer a copper or other metal wire of asmall gauge, which may be manipulated and drawn through the cork almost as readily as sewing-thread.

With a cork sewn or bound as above described a cork-screw may be used as readily as with. ordinary corks; and there is also the additional advantage that the wire or cord may be soarranged as to engage with the cork-screw, so as to prevent the latter from pulling out of the cork, an accident which sometimes occurs.

My invention is, of course, applicable to corks for champagne-bottles, or to other vessels or receptacles of whatever kind, which are closed by corks or stopples. 4

Having now described my invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

As a new article. of manufacture, `a cork or stopperl for bottles and-like articles, interlaced or sewn with wire or cord in such manner that one portion of the 

